Statocyst

statocyst

A cell containing statoliths in a fluid medium. Also known as statocyte.

(invertebrate zoology)

A sensory vesicle containing statoliths and which functions in the perception of the position of the body in space.

Statocyst

(1) An auditory vesicle, the organ of equilibration in invertebrates. Statocysts are in the form of a pit or a vesicle embedded under the outer skin covering. They may also be in the form of a flask-shaped protrusion (for example, in medusae and sea urchins). A statocyst contains one or more solid formations, which are known as statoliths, or otoliths. When the body position is changed, the otoliths move, thus stimulating the sensory cells of the statocyst. The nerve impulse is transmitted from the sensory cells along the nerve fibers to the central nervous system, causing a response that leads to restoration of equilibrium.

(2) A plant cell in which tiny, mobile starch granules, known as statoliths, are formed. Statocysts are found in the rootcaps, the apices of cereal coleoptiles, and other growing parts.

The exposed part of these sensory cells are hair-like offshoots called cilia, which are surrounded by liquid within the balance organs of the inner ear and send a signal to the brain when they are swished about by the head changing positions.

Weisleder is trying to find out the conditions whereby such regeneration takes place after the cells have been destroyed by streptomycin, because the balance organs of all vertebrates are so similar that those conditions might be reproducible in humans.

Andres Collazo at the House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, and his team selected the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis and the zebrafish Danio rerio for their study because during embryonic stages of development, the hearing and balance organs of both the species greatly resemble those of humans.

Stugeron contains cinnarizine, an antihistamine that helps to reduce travel sickness by working on the vomiting centre in the brain to stop nausea, and the balance organs in the inner ear to reduce their sensitivity to motion.

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